LECTURE DfS FRAMEWORKS:

Previously select an existing product that is in commercial use. Then assess the sustainability of the chosen

product based on one of the sustainability frameworks in Lecture 5. You can choose any of the frameworks

that you find most useful. Finally, report the results:

1. Sustainability of the chosen product: How sustainable is it? How can it be improved?

2. Usefulness of the sustainability framework as a design tool: how can the framework (of your choice)

help you in the design of a new product?

Answer Q #1:

Among all the several and main frameworks considered this week, I have chosen one that is mostly a

qualitative methodology: industrial processes. The chosen product in Biodiesel.

When Rudolf Diesel created in 1900 his oil engine which was presented in Paris, he hoped that one day

agriculture would provide everybody with oil seeds combustible. However, at that moment it was too

expensive and petroleum derivatives where cheaper to obtain. Good idea, but failed.

Year 2007 and the EU produces roughly 35 million of m3 of biocombutibles, among others, biodiesel

obtained from oleaginous seeds such as peanuts and sun flowers. Herr Rudolf was right: today

biocombustibles can be obtained in thousands of service stations in different forms: B100 (100& pure) or

mixed by gasoil such as B10, 15 and 20 (90% bio and 10% gasoil, and so on). By 2007 legislation required

at least a production for heating and transports about 10000 million liters per year. Regrettably, by 2010 we

only produced roughly 2400 million liter per year.

Why?

The perks of having biodiesel:

- It can be produced with the oil obtained form plants such as: rape, soya beans, palm, Brassica

Carinata (Ethiopian mustard) and sunflowers.

- Also, it can be produced at a lower cost by means of reusing the oil used for fried foods. (Just think

about the huge amount of oil that is used in fat food restaurants, everyday!) These are mainly the

“raw material” used in almost the 200 plants working in Spain. Rape is used mainly in central Europe

and sunflowers in Italy.

o Cons of using fried food oils:

� Reduce the costs of recycling of these oils.

� This raw material is by far the cheapest one. (Only in Spain they represent roughly

750000 Tm per year).

- Seeds prices are getting lower while the diesel price is getting more and more expensive. Soon the

final price won’t be a problem or at least the reason for discriminate the first against the other.

- It is a combustible 100% vegetal and 100% biodegradable. It is a renewable and endless energy. Do

not generate dangerous or hazardous waste.

- Reduces 90% the emission of CO2: 10% net emission, non-renewable, is caused by the methanol

added to the plant.

- It does not contribute to the greenhouse effect it does not increase the existing CO2 level in the

atmosphere (called also CO2 closed cycle).

- The use of pure biodiesel B100 is better than the conventional diesel: null sulphide oxides, 80% less

of CO2, 65% less particles and 50% less of CO and hydrocarbon emitted.

- It does not contain benzene or any other cancerous substances (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

compounds).

- It is a great opportunity for the agriculture, helping to cultivate large extensions of field, avoiding

desertification and erosion of them.

Pros:

- Fried food oils recovery is difficult, despite the existence of the Law10/98 concerning Disposal of

Used Oils.

- The recovery implies conventional transports which pollutes.

- The production price of biodiesel is still prohibitively expensive: it is almost twice the production price

of gasoline or conventional diesel, without counting taxes.

- The production plant costs roughly 12 million €. It is still expensive, but in less than 10 years the

costs will be 30% off.

- Parts of the engines must be replaced and/or some engines must be adapted for this new

combustible.

- Require huge, humongous extensions of field for cultivating the total amount of seeds and plants

required to be competitive today. Only a 7% of the plant is really used for producing the biodiesel.

- It requires monstruous extensions of fields (as an example: if the third part of Spain would be used

for cultivating the required plants, only could be satisfied the internal require of biocombustibles).

Cultivating these extensions of fields require also monstruous amounts of herbicides, insecticides,

fertilizers, chemical products more or less aggressive to control plagues that do not benefit

humankind. Vulnerability of these extensions in front of plagues is bigger than smaller ones.

- At lower temperatures, the combustible crystalizes and could jam the combustible pipes of the cars.

- It is a solvent and can degrade certain materials as rubber, polyurethane.

- The water consumption is on the other hand the main inconvenient, because conventional

production methods require roughly 4-5 Tm of water to produce only 1 Tm of biodiesel.

Under my opinion, biocombustibles must be improved considerably. But, having other solutions such as

electric engines or others, I would invest more money and resources to these other solutions. Basically

because some of the inconvenients found in the production of biodiesel can’t be solved. Petroleum

derivatives are still in use and mixing biodiesel with conventional diesel is not a solution at all.

Answer Q #2:

Concretely, the framework used, has helped me a lot when considering the product itself at a large scale. I

mean, not only the idea should be great and green and eco and marvelous, but also, the way we are going

to obtain, process, manufacture, prepare, distribute and consume it. I understand that every human action is

imperfect. An example: scientists today study nature for creating and improving our life. It is called

Biomimics. We observe a dragonfly and we create a helicopter, a big fast cool chopper, which pollutes,

generates noises, and requires maintenanceI It is good indeed, but the humankind as creator is very

limited. So, achieving the non-toxic, non-contaminant product is simply impossible. But, the question is: Can

we do better? Yes, absolutely. So, the framework I have chosen has helped me and will help me to design

the each-time-better-and-better process to do everything, by means of simplifying, making it eco, green and

sustainableI taking in mind the whole process from the beginning to the end and so on. Purpose: living in a

well-balanced equilibria with the Earth, without compromising our future needs.